AT&T Ends Pay Phone Business

In with the new, out with the old: AT&T said on Monday it plans to end its dwindling pay phone business by the end of 2008, as more consumers use mobile phones, according to a Reuters report.

This will affect 13 states that AT&T services, and continues an overall downward trend in the number of pay phones in the U.S., from 2.6 million in 1998 to an estimated 1 million today. Some critics still warn that the moves affect low-credit, low-income consumers that don’t qualify for cell phones or home phone service.

AT&T to end dwindling pay phone business [Reuters]

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